Thursday, January 26, 2012

PC Magazine: "A tipster tells PCMag.com that Microsoft is developing the new Kinect system in-house instead of relying on PrimeSense".

EETimes: Ilan Spillinger, CVP Hardware and Technology, Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft emphasizes his company role in bringing Kinect technology to the market: "With Kinect, it’s was all about the ability to believe. It was taking the raw technologies in their early stages, building demos, and creating something that no one ever shipped before, something that on paper costs a lot, and is clearly not just a consumer-electronic device. How do you pick technology and put soul into it? How can you effectively work closely with content developers, the creators, to formulate a compelling story about why this technology brings new experiences to the market?"

BBC reports that Microsoft has launched a version of Kinect to work with Windows-based PCs. The new hardware features a "near mode" which allows it to track movements as close as 40cm away, compared to 50cm on the original model. However, the updated device costs nearly twice as much as the Xbox 360 version.

Microsoft links the increase to enhanced features - including "skeletal tracking" and improved speech recognition - as well as the cost of developing a device that works across several systems, rather than a single games console. Kinect for Windows' general manager Craig Eisler told the BBC that the company subsidized the Xbox version and recouped the money from games and other related sales.